Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Greater New Orleans

Change Region

comments

Mid-City stabbing murder victim was a grandfather who worked odd jobs

New Orleans police investigate a homicide in the back of a house in the 3200 block of Bienville Street just before 2 p.m. on Thursday, October 4, 2012. A male was found dead inside his home.
Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com / The Times-Picayune
(Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com / The Times-Picayune)

A 61-year-old grandfather, who was found stabbed to death in his Mid-City home Thursday, had watched old Westerns the night before with a friend, telling him, "I'll see you in the morning."

But the next day about 1 p.m., a family member called police to report the murder, in the 3200 block of Bienville Street, NOPD spokeswoman officer Hilal Williams said.

One of the last people to see the victim alive was his childhood friend, Herbert Harris, 77. The two had grown up together in the neighborhood near Orleans Parish Prison, Harris said.

Harris said he and his friend had watched Western movies on a VCR at the victim's house on Wednesday night, just hours before the stabbing. "He didn't show any kind of mood or attitude when I left," said Harris, who left his friend's house about 9 p.m. "He just said, 'I'll see you in the morning.

"He never seemed like the type to bring this on himself. Unless there was something I didn't know about,"Harris said.

Unity, an organization that helps the homeless, had helped the victim move into the home, where he had lived alone for the past two years, Harris said.

Harris said his friend had worked offshore when he was younger, then, in later years, he worked in roofing and "all types of odd jobs."

Anyone with information about this crime can call NOPD Homicide Detective Maggie Darling at 504.658.5300 or Crime Stoppers at 504.822.1111.